AUGUSTA – By this weekend, some 73,000 Mainers should be holding the key to lower-cost prescription drugs.

At a crowded State House press conference Tuesday, Gov. John Baldacci announced the long-awaited launch of the Maine Rx Plus program, a drug discount plan that promises savings of between 10 percent and 60 percent on prescription medications.

Baldacci congratulated the program’s many supporters for their perseverance in making the plan a reality and said Maine Rx Plus will “shine a light across the country in regard to prescription drugs.”

Maine residents who lack prescription coverage and have incomes at or below 350 percent of the federal poverty limit are eligible to enroll in Maine Rx Plus- $31,440 or less for an individual, $42,420 for a couple and $64,400 for a family of four. The state estimates 275,000 people in Maine are eligible.

First to be signed up will be sidelined participants from the now-defunct Healthy Maine Prescriptions program, an earlier, Medicaid-based discount program that was successfully blocked last year by a court challenge from the prescription drug industry. The 73,000 enrollment forms scheduled to be mailed by the end of this week are addressed to those participants.

Although Maine Rx is not a Medicaid program, under its provisions the thousands of drugs included on the state’s Medicaid list of preferred medications will be discounted. Generic medications will be the most deeply discounted at about 60 percent off the retail price. Name-brand medications will be discounted about 15 percent.

Some over-the-counter products are covered by Maine Rx Plus as well, including stop-smoking products, insulin syringes and test strips for blood sugar monitors. Participants must have a written prescription for these materials from their doctor in order to receive the discount.

The discounts are achieved through direct negotiation between the state and drug manufacturers. Companies who agree to provide the broad discounts will benefit by the inclusion of their products on Maine’s Medicaid list of preferred drugs. Companies that do not agree may be excluded from that list, losing access to a large market.

Several speakers at Tuesday’s event contrasted Maine Rx Plus with the recently passed federal Medicare drug benefit, which specifically prohibits the government from negotiating prices with drug companies.

“Congress said Medicare must pay the highest prices going. This means we’re gouging the taxpayer, taking medicine out of the hands of people who need it and handing unearned profits over to the pharmaceutical industry,” said House Speaker Patrick Colwell, D-Gardiner. “Once we see the benefits of the Maine Rx approach, I believe the public will demand that Congress reform the Medicare drug benefit.”

Longtime Maine Rx supporter Sen. Arthur Mayo, R-Bath, agreed, predicting many states would adopt similar legislation. Ultimately, he said, the Maine Rx model will replace “the unfortunate legislation we saw coming out of Washington.”

The rollout of Maine Rx Plus culminates a process that began with the drafting of the original legislation four years ago. Passed by the Legislature in the spring of 2000 and scheduled to take effect in January 2001, the original program was challenged in court by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

In the suit, which is still pending, PhRMA contended the plan put Medicaid recipients at a disadvantage because the products of companies that refuse to issue the discounts would not be included on the state’s Medicaid drug list. Because Maine Rx is a state-administered program, PhRMA argued that it should not affect the federally-partnered Medicaid program or its recipients.

PhRMA also argued that allowing the state to pressure manufacturers into lower prices is in violation of federal interstate commerce laws.

In addition to its lawsuit, PhRMA petitioned the court to prevent implementation of the program until the suit could be decided. The injunction was granted by the federal court, but lifted by the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2003.

Given the go-ahead, the state in June announced the fine-tuning of the program in response to some of PhRMA’s concerns and renamed it Maine Rx Plus. Whereas the original legislation would have provided discounts to all Mainers regardless of income, Rx Plus does have income guidelines. It also delays the possible exclusion of nonparticipating companies from the Medicaid drug list until October of this year.

PhRMA has since requested the court refer the plan to the federal department of Health and Human Services for formal approval.

However, Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe said Tuesday, “This program meets all the standards and guidelines of [Central Medical Services, the agency that oversees the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs]. We think there’s no need for prior approval.”

Over 100 pharmacies across the state have agreed to honor Maine Rx Plus discounts, including pharmacies in the Hannaford and Shaw’s grocery stores, the Brooks chain and most independent stores.

Rite Aid will not participate, according to company representative Douglas Carr, because a proposed reduction in dispensing fees currently under consideration as part of the state’s efforts to recoup losses to the Medicaid program represents an unacceptable loss of revenues.

Wal-Mart pharmacies have also declined to participate, as have some smaller chains.

For more information on the Maine Rx Plus plan, or to request an enrollment application, call toll-free 1-866-RxMaine (1-866-796-2463). A list of participating pharmacies is posted on the Web site of the state’s pharmacy benefits manager, Goold Health Systems: www.ghsinc.com.